Courting Changes
by SerenBunny
Summary: REQUIEM MASK piece. Erik and Chelsey have a discussion about courting and its unusual effects.


This my my entry to iron-gibbet's contest; "The Date."

Please, read and enjoy!

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Erik glared at the list of 'changes' Chelsey had given him, Christine, Daroga and Raoul in order for them to better understand the world they were going to live in.

'I mean, obviously travel and transports were due to change, Erik knows that they must in order to keep up with technological advancements.' Erik thought to himself, casting a glance at the lovely Christine and flop Raoul as they looked at the 'beauty' section more closely.

"Tan women are seen as being more beautiful?" Christine worried, her completion wasn't that pale but compared to the girls of this era, she was more like death warmed over.

Erik snorted silently at his ironic thought and kept an ear on them.

"Well, yeah, but not too tanned! Wouldn't want to walk about looking like an orange." Chelsey grinned at the memory of Thanh when she tried to use fake tan a few years ago. "But today it signifies that you can relax and spend time outside instead of working all the time."

"Hmm, still, I would like to see these selections…" Raoul thought aloud and quickly grasped Christine's hand. "Come Christine, we shall peruse what this world of today has to offer to make us even more handsome."

"Ahem."

"And pretty."

"HAVE FUN!" Chelsey yelled after them, gently closing the door of her apartment and returning to Erik who sat on the couch, still looking through the list. "What cha thinking?"

"I am simply wondering as to how these changes came about, and why such nescient where ever made public." Erik scoffed, gesturing to the section of 'Things One Must Not Say/Suggest'. "It does go without saying that you should never tell a woman that her nose resembles a completely ransacked Hork and a Half wax! Honestly! And this section here-"

He nearly shoved the list in Chelseys nose.

"'What Not To Wear' - obviously you would never court a young woman wearing rainbow overall with sequins. Who in their right minds would?"

"That happened to a girl friend of mine." Chelsey casually mentioned.

Erik stopped his ranting and stared at her; unmoving. 'What did she just say?'

"She married him later that year, but still, I think it was for a laugh, because everyone had told her boyfriend that she liked sequins and bright colours." Chelsey continued and headed to the 'infernal contraption', as Erik _oh so lovingly_ claimed the computer was.

"That wasn't her worst date though, about a month before she was going to date a farmer, but after he commented on a great fertilizer when they were talking about how to make hair grow faster, will, that love was over powered by the stink." She shrugged. "But if you _want_ more bad date examples from this wondrously informed age, all you have to do is Google is."

"Google, that search engine?" Erik asked, moving a chair to sit beside her.

Chelsey nodded her head, before typing in 'date disasters'.

Various things popped up, ranging from:

_"I told my date I was vegan […] he ordered me a banana made out of solid meat!"_

_"He accidentally dyed my dead stuffed Raccoon polka-dotted! I only had green paint in the house!"_

_"…and he tasted my salad, you know what he said? *still doesn't believe it* 'Holy Sheep In A Shipwreck this is good!"_

"Ah, here we go. " Chelsey muttered to herself, bringing up 'weh8truelove4ucom'

'Want a dating site that makes all the wrong matches? Follow the link…want one that helps you? Try ANY other…Strange.' Erik read over her shoulder, not noticing Raoul and Christine return with bags upon bags of hair care and beauty products. "How did you know about this particular…location?"

"You mean the web page? Well, before I met Alex, the guy I dated was convinced he was Bruce Willis, it was funny as the start, he was all tough and hard, but then he tried to do the-you have no idea who I'm talking about do you?" She asked and blushed. "Sorry."

"No, it is my fault." 'Darn my ignorance of this time!' Erik berated himself, and then decided to remain silent.

But with Chelsey in the room, we all know how long that would last.

"oh my." She grinned, and then burst into gut busting laugher. "Oh Gods!"

Erik peered over her shoulder again to read the oddest thing:

_"…set up for the double date the day after Halloween[…] my guy was convinced he was a pickle daemon, and my sisters thought he was mongoose pirate, I mean c'mon, what the hell are they?!"_

"Back in my day-" Erik paused himself from going any further. "Chelsey, how does one go around courting in today's time?" 'A valid question. Nothing sinister. No hidden meaning what so ever.'

"Well, generally two people hang out, maybe get something to eat, share stuff with each other, information, jokes, details of their lives, or hang with friends in a larger group a first, then just go to each others houses…" She trailed off, trying to think of what she and Alex did. "Thanh's the best to ask about that kind of stuff though. What was it like in your time?"

"Well, the man would ask the woman's family permission, then he would either take her to dinner then an event, such as the opera with or without a chaperone, depending on the families reception, or a carriage ride. I am afraid I do not have much experience of being in a woman's company, especially not romantically." Erik finished, and then had a slightly happy thought. 'although the description she has given Erik suggests that they have been on a 'date' many times since they met, and she has not run screaming…'


End file.
